The family of a woman who died after childbirth agreed to a $4 million settlement in their Monmouth County medical malpractice suit, Estate of Bloomstein v. Vaclavik, on April 4.
When Lauren Bloomstein was admitted to Monmouth Medical Center on Oct. 2, 2011, for the birth of her first child, her blood pressure was elevated, but obstetrician John Vaclavik did not take any steps to alleviate it, according to plaintiff lawyer Robert Adinolfi. After she gave birth, her blood pressure continued to rise, and she developed pre-eclampsia, which progressed into a liver disorder called HELLP syndrome, according to Adinolfi. HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, or ruptured red blood cells; elevated liver enzymes; and low platelet count) is a potentially fatal complication of pregnancy.
